Frustration

It's starting to become evident that my lingering Achilles tendonitis isn't getting any better. In fact, 24 hours ago it was bad as it's been in months. Monday's run was really not that fast, although as soon as I got back to work I realized that I had crossed some imaginary (seemingly random) threshold. I walked with a noticeable limp the rest of the day...and all day Tuesday. Although today is typically a run day, I had decided last night to use the x-trainer at the gym. That dreaded device for me means one of two things...either the roads are impassable or I'm hurt. I can run for 2 hours in the woods and it seems like 20 minutes. Without my iPod there's no way I can stand 10 minutes on that thing. My feet went numb but I managed 30 minutes. This is the last "on" week of the first cycle and after my restoration week I think I'm going to go back to the drawing board and come up with a little different strategy. How much up tempo running does it really take to prepare for a 30k XC ski race?